Wolfpack looks like favorite for next matchup

After playing four ranked opponents in its first seven Atlantic Coast Conference games, North Carolina State has a reprieve of sorts Wednesday night at last-place Pittsburgh.

"(We are) seven games (into ACC play), and I don’t know that anybody has played four ranked teams in a seven-game set so far," N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts said. "I’m proud of these guys. It would have been a lot of people that said we weren’t capable of winning the games that we've won."

While the Wolfpack has upset two ranked ACC teams — along with then-No. 2 Arizona in the first month of the season — it will try to avoid a letdown against a struggling team.

Last year’s N.C. State team went on the road and lost to Boston College, which finished last in the conference with two league victories.

N.C. State will look to get its defense repaired after Miami shot 58 percent from the field Sunday.

"Our defense was not really at a point where we wanted it," N.C. State center Omer Yurtseven said. "That’s why we’ve got a lot to learn from. That’s what we’ve got to get back to. Get back to working on our defense."

It's as good of a game as any to get back on track defensively.

Pittsburgh’s offense ranks second-to-last in the ACC in field goal percentage (43 percent) and last in points per game (64.3).

The Panthers are coming off a 54-point, 41-percent shooting performance in a blowout loss Saturday at Duke.

Despite N.C. State's setback to the Hurricanes, Keatts remains upbeat that the defensive issues will be corrected.

"I’m happy with this team. These guys are fighting, they're clawing," Keatts said. "I’m excited to watch them play. They've gotten better. We're gonna continue to get better. I like the pieces that we have. ... I love my group, and we're right there in the mix with everybody else."

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Tip-off

Who: North Carolina State (13-7, 3-4) at Pittsburgh (8-12, 0-7)

When: 9 Wednesday night (RSN)

Where: Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh

Series: N.C. State leads 14-2, winning each of the past five meetings

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